The psychic predicted Ky would meet his one and only. What in the world does he do with two guys who both match her description?

Synopsis: Ky Maxwell is a PR guy who’s desperate for work. When his cushy studio job disappears, he tries everything to find new employment. He’s even thinking about holding up one of those foam pointy hands for a cell phone company outside a store when his former boss takes pity on him and refers him to a major movie studio about to go into production on a huge sci-fi trilogy.

Ky’s excited about the project until his prospective employer, Lisa Bird, insists she needs to do an astrological chart of Ky—and a psychic reading as part of the interview. His crazy, maybe-boss predicts a new man coming into Ky’s life. She goes into great detail. He’s a fire sign, probably a Leo, his first name starts with a T, he’s in his early 30s. And…this is it!

Ky couldn’t be less interested, however. He needs work. Love won’t pay the bills. He doesn’t get the job because Lisa believes he isn’t a team player and because their stars are out of alignment. That would be fine except that the reading she gave him in her office is proving to be frighteningly accurate. Since he’s cut off from her though, he has no idea which of the two wonderful new guys he’s met is his forever man. How can he choose…or will they, too, soon vanish as fast as Ky’s last paycheck?

Zero struggles to resist becoming Stride’s blood slave but can he also resist the burning lust the cold hearted fiend is arousing in his very soul?

Nibiru, known by some as Planet X, is poised to strike earth and wipe out everything in its path. Stride, a solitary vampire with powers delivered down to him through his sorceress mother, senses its arrival. And he intends to survive…to escape to the planet itself in hopes that he will find a blood source there.

What Stride finds is a desolate place with no life in sight. Then he sees him, the vampire who sought him out on earth just before the disaster struck, the one who told him…there are only two. Only two vampires with no humans to be found means only one thing, only one of them can survive.

Zero knows it’s only a matter of time before he becomes Stride’s blood slave. His ship crashed on Nibiru, and his human lover perished, leaving him alone and vulnerable. And Stride is tracking him in a deadly game of cat and mouse, determined to survive.

Reader Advisory: This book is part of an ongoing serial series, best read in order as it continues.

There’s nothing like rediscovering ‘the one that got away’ even if it does take five hundred years…

Synopsis: Luca Dell’Oro has developed an unusual but successful event planning business. His specialty is Italian Weddings and Funerals, which is also the name of his highly sought-after Mendocino, California business. He accepts an unusual assignment, to fly to Rome, Italy, to cater a funeral for an Italian opera singer. Nothing goes right from the minute he accepts the assignment. Cookware goes missing and his most trusted employees mysteriously can’t go with him, leaving him with a motley crew for a staff.

Once in Italy, Luca is stunned to find that the grieving widower happens to be a man Luca met and lost…to the deceased woman – in sixteenth century Italy. Luca has good reasons for still being around. He’s a vampire and all his recipes and magical ingredients have been carefully cultivated over the years. But just who the hell…or what the hell is Franco Savelli and does he want Luca or does he want to kill him?

I’ve noticed a lot of authors have been responding to not so great reviews lately. It’s hard to keep quiet when you get a bad review but I’ve learned the hard way that as tough as it is, not to respond. Not drawing attention to a bad review means, hopefully, that fewer people see it. I noticed two major writers blogging about these bad reviews last week and found two disturbing things in common with the reviews.

What some reviewers found to be ‘bad’ about these books was that the male lead was a flawed character.

Recently I experienced this myself in a review of one of my books. I was surprised the reviewer made a point of saying how much he disliked the lead character because he was selfish – but went on to say I won him over by the end of the story.

I see a lot of these types of reviews, not just of my books but other authors too.

What surprises me is that the ‘flawed hero’ has been a staple of story-telling for centuries.

What is the urge for total perfection in a fictional hero since a man who isn’t flawed isn’t realistic or necessarily appealing?

I know we’re all writing romance novels but if you look back over the most popular books and movies over the years, the hero had obvious flaws and by the end of the story has redeemed himself.

In Hollywood, this is called a character arc.

If you look at famous comic book heroes, they all have damaged psyches and odd little flaws which make them interesting. I’m not saying romantic heroes need to have a mortal fear of kryptonite, but they have to have…something.

In books, it should be something readers can to relate to. Our heroes don’t need to be total dicks, but they shouldn’t be perfect, either. They should be endearing enough that we care about their outcome…so why the sudden mania for perfect men?

This has been an interesting week in the world of men. We’ve seen the complete breakdown of a popular and likable star in Charlie Sheen.

What’s intriguing about Charlie is that we all knew he had flaws. We all knew he had a terribly dark side, and yet something about him kept us glued to our TV sets week after week to make Two and a Half Men the most popular show on TV.

Watching him fall apart day by day has been painful. He went from being an appealing, naughty boy to a figure of tragedy and when he couldn’t keep his trap shut, the butt of endless jokes.

Now everybody I know screeches, “Winning!” and some of my friends and I kid each other about being “rock stars from Mars” but here is my point.

He was obviously this way for a long time, but the publicity machine behind him protected him, keeping up, pardon the pun, a sheen of perfection around him, even when he screwed up royally off camera.

Stripped of his studio clout, we all got a long, searing look at the real Charlie and it wasn’t much fun.

How he would translate into a fictional character of course is that he finds salvation. He gets help, becomes the nice guy he can be and finds the perfect mate. In the hands of a good writer, Charlie’s story is great fodder.

I don’t mind admitting the idea appeals to me somewhere down the road but for now, O have other flawed heroes to deal with. I can’t help feeling that we need to fight the notion of what a hero is. I am certain that somewhere in the heart of the English countryside, Jane Austen is turning in her grave because she was one of the pioneers of the flawed but wonderful hero (Mr. Darcy comes to mind).

Should writers start dumbing down their men to appeal to this new idealism? I don’t think so.

If the notes I receive from readers and other writers are anything to go by, not to mention book sales, I have to think there are readers who still want a meaty, solid story.

First he was Wanted, then Needed, Bonded and Mated. Now Mingo McCloud, Hawaii’s hottest forensic accountant is Fixated on marriage, murder and mayhem in paradise!

Synopsis: Mingo McCloud has a lot going on. Dealing with his private life just got more complicated now he and his lover, Francois, have a fulltime teenager in the house. And soon Mingo has a new foe on his hands: the banshee goddess of the Seven Bridges. Yep, only an island guy like Mingo could wind up tangling with an ancient deity in what should be a routine murder investigation.

But that’s not all. Hawaii has just passed the same-sex civil union bill. Will Francois give up his resistance to getting hitched and pop the question? And what about their son, Ferric? What does his new obsession with a teenage surfing queen have to do with a shark, bikini workouts, pole dancing and…wedding cake?

Note to readers: This title is Number 5 in the Mingo McCloud series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone book.

Words on a page. How much do they mean? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately not just because I’m a writer and reader but because I’ve come to realize they can mean everything and nothing.
Have you ever picked up a grocery cart in the store and found somebody else’s shopping list? It’s happened to me enough times that I find myself wondering about the person behind the whimsical stationery or the spidery handwriting.
On the other end of the spectrum we have the Voyrich Manuscript, or The Book Nobody Can Read. A seemingly unintelligible work written in the 15th century that nobody can decipher.
Recently I had an experience that falls somewhere between these two.
My godmother sent me a card hand-written by mother in 1972.
Big deal, right?
Well, for me it was. I was a year old at the time and she died a few short years later after a horrific battle with colon cancer. My father destroyed all trace of her. So it was an incredible gift when my godmother unearthed an old Christmas card in which my mother describes her joy at getting me to eat (I find it hard to believe that was ever a problem) and her discovery that she was pregnant again.
I’d never seen her handwriting and the card reduced me to tears. She had a lovely penmanship and wrote in smooth strokes. I touch each word, knowing she created it.
What astonished me was how people have reacted when I show them the card. People I feel close to act like it’s odd that I carry it around with me. A few of my elderly friends, and those who have lost their mothers, recognize it for the treasure it is. I have scanned the card and sent it to my brothers who also value it.
Until my dying day it will remain my most treasured possession.
Words on a page.
Or, a card.
This has impacted me in a wonderful way, because the card became the jumping off point for my new story, Wait For Night, for Amber Quill Press. It comes out in April as part of the Crime and Punishment anthology and as I put the finishing touches to the story I am aware that this is probably my most personal story yet.
Without giving too much away, a young man’s assault at the hands of an attacker who is liberated by the Los Angeles court system, sends him spiralling into depression…and a journey of self-discovery. He travels to a small Greek village – which I did, in search of my mother – only to find the man who hurt him has followed him there.
The Greek poet George Seferis once said, “Wherever I travel, Greece hurts me.”
As I began the search for my mother’s memory, she and the country from which we came have hurt me. I will never stop searching for her…or loving her. Until we meet again.
Aloha oe,

Lucas Addison’s life is all mapped out. A rising chess superstar, he is an orderly, fastidious kind of guy whose reputation as a jerk precedes him. He’s resigned to a career–filled life until he spots fallen movie idol Kevin Morgan in the crowd watching him play chess in a tournament one cold, but sunny afternoon in Central Park. Kevin’s exquisite good looks and haunting eyes tear at him. What happened to this guy and why did he walk away from the world? And why does Lucas think he can…and must save him?

Lucas becomes enthralled by the actor who walked off the stage in the middle of a matinee performance of his one-man show on Broadway the previous year. The one time million-dollar-a-movie man appears to be homeless and rebuffs Lucas’s attempts at friendship, hurting Lucas’s feelings. All Lucas cares about is that New York is still in the grip of fierce late winter storms and the nighttimes are below freezing. Can he get Kevin inside, out of the cold? Could they possibly become lovers?

Things start to defrost between them when Kevin accepts his invitation to see a benefit performance of the classic play, Sunday in the Park with George…

Happy Valentine’s Day! My new M/M novel set in Victorian England may be historical but has all the hot romance you’ve come to expect from an A.J. Llewellyn story. Wishing all my wonderful readers a day of romance and passion.

I love you all!

A.J. xoox

PAPER VALENTINE

London, 1840. At the height of Victorian hypocrisy, two men meet and fall in love. Their romance is forbidden, punishable even by death, but their passion blossoms thanks to a paper Valentine.

Saint Valentine’s Day has become a new and very popular day for lovers. Thousands of Londonites are clamouring for the ideal romantic gift. While men buy chocolate and posies, they yearn for something more unusual, more personal. Enterprising brothers Aldon and Samuel Barnaby hit upon the idea of paper Valentines, creating lavish presentations decorated with silk, lace, and paper flowers.

Aldon is fortunate to have his perfect valentine going to his expectant wife, Geneve, but Samuel still longs for his own true love, pouring his heart and soul into his beautiful creations. Samuel’s romantic verses inside his paper Valentines are in huge demand, yet not a single local girl can lay claim to his heart…because his passion lies not in a woman, but another man—Jude, a handsome but shy widower.

Jude’s heart, haunted by grief, hasn’t been ready to consider marriage again. But slowly, through his inclusion in the Barnaby family’s lives…and his frequent excursions to stop and stare at the Barnabys’ shop window…he begins to wonder in what direction his future lies.

Can Samuel possibly allow his heart to explore love with another man? Could Jude ever love him in return? He sends Jude an exquisite, anonymous paper Valentine, not suspecting that his entire world is about to be turned upside down…

Alex has already lost one lover to his brother Zeca. Now his fickle shenanigans have driven Hugh, his other lover, away as well. Alex desperately wants what his brother has, an intensely passionate relationship, so Zeca shares their father Toppy’s advice—you have to love before you can be relentless. Good advice, if Alex weren’t so afraid to follow it.

When Toppy’s own love life gets a little, um…strange, he escapes to St. Tropez. He takes Alex with him, who finds himself face-to-face with Hugh. Too bad Hugh is already lip-to-lip with someone else. But Alex has come too far to turn back now.

The game is on, and while Toppy gets up to his own sexual shenanigans under the St. Tropez sun, Alex will do anything to get back into Hugh’s life…his bed…his body. He’ll first have to learn to face his fears. Only then can he find relentless love.

When Jack accepts Bruce’s marriage proposal, it’s for the money. After the last piece of confetti’s swept up, he realizes he’d marry Bruce for love.

Synopsis:

Jack Callahan is in a financial bind, so when Australian novelist Bruce Logan offers him a small fortune to marry him so Bruce can get his green card, Jack agrees. The two men know enough about each other to pull off the immigration interview at Homeland Security and they can happily share an apartment in LA. Until Bruce establishes legal residency.

The problem is that Jack develops feelings for Bruce and is torn when his new husband starts dating another man. Not only that, but Bruce’s expected book royalties fall short of his expectations. He can’t pay Jack and it seems that he’s in love with his new man. Jack however, finds his lengthy solitude has been broken and his feelings for Bruce only deepen. Can the two married men actually find wedded bliss?